


You make my heart Bulba-soar

by pastelpinks



Category: SEVENTEEN (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Pokemon, Attempt at Humor, Berry Enthusiast Wonu, Fluff and Crack, M/M, Mingyu makes an appearance (squint to see Gyuhao), Pokemon AU, Rivals to Friends to Lovers, Timeskips, lame pkmn related puns, wonseul siblings
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-22
Updated: 2018-01-22
Packaged: 2019-03-08 06:18:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 11,492
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13452288
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pastelpinks/pseuds/pastelpinks
Summary: “Why do you only ever battle with Wartortle?” Soonyoung asks in the midst of their fifth battle against each other.“Because I never need to ask help from anyone else in my team except Wartortle because my opponent always tags out before I need to switch.”Trainer Wonwoo used Provoke on Trainer Soonyoung!“Ugh, you’re so full of it!”It was super effective!(Wonwoo just wanted Soonyoung to pay for the damage that his Pokemon inflicted on his precious berry farm. Was that too much to ask?)





	You make my heart Bulba-soar

**Author's Note:**

> I was a huge Pokemon trash (I still am) in my youth (I’m still in my youth) and is currently a bigger snwu trash as I enter adulthood (barely surviving rn send help) so when I saw Prompt #143, I knew I just had to get my hands on it cries. I’m sorry if it wasn’t what you expected it to be but I hope you will enjoy reading this smol (I say smol but this is the longest oneshot I have ever written so far what) tiny lighthearted snwu x pkmn thing as much as I enjoyed writing (read: cramming) it!

The first time Wonwoo meets Soonyoung, it’s springtime.

 

The trees in the city are adorned with a vivid green foliage, the Taillows' and Swellows' lulling chirps are music to the ears, the flowers in Seulgi’s garden are in full bloom and Wonwoo's berry farm is all set for harvesting.

 

His family owned a flower shop located just a stone’s throw away from Rustboro City. Although small, quaint and just right for a small scale family business, people of all ages, trainer and non-trainer, from all over the Hoenn Region frequented their little haven in search for different flowers, plants and berries for different occasions.

 

As other kids his age grew up with big dreams of traveling the world, collecting gym badges or contest ribbons and becoming the best Pokemon trainer the galaxy has ever known, Wonwoo grew up appreciating what his tiny world had to offer. Contented with learning about the seemingly vast world through his books in the Pokemon Trainer’s School and keeping track of the growth of his berries in his scanty but special berry farm at the back of his home.

 

While his mother’s and sister’s expertise fell on plants, flowers and the entire diversity of it, Wonwoo’s proficiency and passion for growing various types of berries kept him too busy to think about packing his bags and leaving home to  _catch them all._

 

Maybe it ran in his blood to have a certain affinity for anything that had to do with the balance of nature what with his father being a Pokemon breeder, his mother being a botanist and his slightly older sister being a florist, it wasn’t far from impossible. Maybe he was unlike any of the children in school who whined about not being old enough to satisfy their wanderlust. Maybe he was odd. Maybe, just maybe, Wonwoo was not meant to be like other kids.

 

He paid it no mind. He liked his life just the way it was. Now seventeen years old, living in the comfort of his home, surrounded by jovial parents, his partners, an older sister to tease and annoy every time a male customer attempted to flirt with her by using poorly constructed Pokemon pick-up lines and a considerably bigger, no longer scanty, berry farm at the side of the Jeon Family Flower Shop.

 

Wonwoo was at ease.

 

Until one fateful afternoon when everything suddenly seemed to go downhill like a Milktank using Roll Out on an uneven, somewhat edgy surface and getting hurt from recoil.  _The poor thing._

 

What started as a particularly good morning for Wonwoo turned out to be quite the opposite just as he was about to call it a day.

 

“Mom and dad won’t be home ‘til late tonight, there’s leftover food from lunch this morning in the fridge, just heat it up in the microwave when you get home and please,  _please_  eat. I don’t want to hear any growling noises that isn’t coming from my Arcanine, okay? No- actually, I don’t want mom and dad blaming me for your upset and empty stomach.” Seulgi says in one breath from where she sits behind the shop’s counter fiddling with her Roselia’s blue rose.

 

Wonwoo pretends to roll his eyes, she’s not  _that_ much older than him.

 

“Yes,  _mom._ Chansey here will be your witness.” He motions to his Pokemon that was patiently waiting for him by the shop’s entrance.

 

“And Wartortle. Now be a good boy and scoot.” Wartortle makes a happy sound and nods at his older sister. She winks at the small water type Pokemon and shoos her younger brother away with a laugh, shifting back her attention to her Roselia; the thorn Pokemon waves goodbye with her free arm as she lounges at the counter top.

 

“Time to go home,” Wonwoo says, smiling down at his Pokemons which earns him two big grins in return.

 

Just as the three were making their way out of the shop, a flash of pink from his peripheral catches Wonwoo’s attention. He turns his head to the direction of his berry farm and gets an unsettling feeling in his gut as he squints his eyes to get a better look outside the shop’s glass pane.

 

His gaze is met with the sight of a very enthusiastic Skitty jumping up and down and running around trying to catch its own tail.

 

Now that would have been very cute and Wonwoo would’ve cooed right then and there. If not for the fact that it was stomping all over his newly harvested and highly maintained berry farm.

 

“Oh _shit-_ ”

 

“Wonwoo, language.” Seulgi scolds but is ignored by the skinny seventeen year old in favor of running towards his currently-in-distress berry farm.

 

Wonwoo was out of the shop in a split second. His Chansey and Wartortle following suit, just as frantic as their trainer was because even they assisted Wonwoo to plow the soil and water the newly planted seeds this morning. However, at the rate that things were going, all of their efforts were turning out to be for naught because of one very excited Skitty who was now enthusiastically digging holes into the very healthy loam soil and was probably scattering the buried Oran and Leppa berry seeds all over the expanse of Wonwoo’s farm.

 

“Chansey,” Wonwoo’s voice comes out weakly but his two Pokemons hear and slowly turn to their trainer, “please tell me you’ve suddenly learned how to use  _Sing_  and sang me to sleep and that this is just a bad dream with a very cute Skitty ruining our all hard work.”

 

The nurse Pokemon isn’t given the chance to shake her head at Wonwoo because there was suddenly an anguished squawk similar to a Wingull’s cry, coming from above her. The glasses framing Wonwoo’s eyes almost slips off as his face crumples into a full blown look of distraught.

 

The Skitty, being completely oblivious to the fact that the lawn it was currently trespassing on to was a private and well taken care of berry farm, latches itself unto one of Wonwoo’s growing Pecha berry trees and practically inhales every pink heart shaped berry that crossed its way.

 

Wartortle and Chansey share a concerned look, contemplating whether they should do something about the Skitty themselves, or wait for their trainer to say something but just as Wonwoo was about to hesitantly call out a command, a loud yell was heard and a boy,  _who_  Wonwoo would assume to be the Skitty’s trainer, with bizarre pink hair – frankly, it’s almost as pink as Wonwoo’s Chansey or the Skitty itself – jogs up to the edge of the soil and opens his arms wide enough for the Skitty to jump into.

 

“ _Skitty!_  There you are!” The small Pokemon’s ears perk up at the voice of the pink haired boy and launches itself into his arms, confirming Wonwoo’s suspicions about him being the owner of the very pink and very cheerful Pokemon.

 

The boy gets damp (from being watered by two very responsible Pokemons) healthy soil all over his arms and shirt but Wonwoo couldn’t care less, it was a tiny price to pay for ruining his sanctuary.

 

“I’ve been looking all over for you- you’ve got dirt all over your pretty fur!” The boy exclaims, patting the kitten Pokemon clean but to no avail.

 

“What have you got there, girl?” He peers into the Skitty’s mouth and spots one (of Wonwoo’s) Pecha berries in between its teeth. “Is that a Pecha berry? Oh my  _Arceus_ , you’re such a smart girl! Who’s a smart Skitty?  _You’re_  a smart Skitty! Yes, you are!” He ogles at the Pokemon in his arms with a very proud grin but Wonwoo is not amused.

 

At all.

 

Wonwoo was well aware that Skittys loved Pecha berries and he would have not hesitated to give away a few of his home grown ones given that they were in a different circumstance. In fact, he would’ve probably given them a whole basket free of charge just because the Skitty was absolutely adorable but again, only if they were in a different circumstance.

 

The pink haired boy makes to stand, gathering his Skitty in his arms to walk away from the harassed berry farm without noticing Wonwoo or his Pokemons standing by and watching everything unfold in front of their eyes.  _How dare he._

 

Wonwoo’s blood was slowly but surely curdling in his veins.

 

No one tramples on his precious berry farm and walks away unscathed.

 

“Excuse me,” Wonwoo says, voice dipped into an intimidating timbre, so far from his usual happy-go-lucky, go-with-the-flow kind of tone.

 

The pink haired boy jumps in shock, “Crap, you startled me.” Upon closer inspection, Wonwoo notices that the boy’s eyes resembled the Skitty’s.  _Weird._

 

“Hello-”

 

“Where do you think you’re going?” Wonwoo cuts him off, his mouth curling into a smile that doesn’t quite reach his eyes.

 

“Uh- I don’t think that’s any of your business-”

 

There is a pregnant pause before: “You’re right, where you’re going after you clean up this mess is none of my business.”

 

“I beg your pardon?” The boy frowns, putting down his Skitty on the ground to shoot an annoyed look in Wonwoo’s direction, putting his hands on his hips.

 

“I said,” Wonwoo drops the sarcastic smile and gives an equally annoyed expression to the boy, staring him down. “You’re not going anywhere, until this farm is fixed.”

 

—

 

The first time they battle, it’s Wonwoo who initiates it.

 

Don’t get him wrong, Jeon Wonwoo was very kind. Gentle, even. Going as far as giving old people free baskets of assorted berries that had the same effects as potions just so they don’t have to go all the way to the Lilycove Department store to shop for them. Berries are naturally grown, edible and healthy too!

 

Wonwoo challenging other trainers to battle, as in  _him_  initiating it- was as rare as a Jirachi waking up, which incidentally happens once every thousand years and while he was usually peeved about the idea of commanding his Pokemons to beat other people’s Pokemons, he finds himself to count this moment as an exception.

 

He was going to be satisfied with just letting the pink haired trainer fix the damage that his Pokemon inflicted on Wonwoo’s precious berry farm but boy, were they stubborn.

 

“And what makes you the boss of me?” The boy quips, crossing his arms over his chest.

 

“I happen to own the berry farm your Skitty  _happened_  to mistake for a day care center. Are you even sure that’s a Skitty you have there and not a Diglet or a Munchlax because if you can’t see properly,  _my_  farm has a copious amount of holes on it now and  _my_  Pecha berry tree has been raided bald.” Wonwoo retaliates, the three Pokemons beside them watch them silently, alternating their attention from their trainer to the other.

 

The pink haired boy’s eyes widen for a split second but then they’re back to being annoying slits, slightly tipping his toes so he can reach Wonwoo’s height. “You can make fun of my eyes all you want but don’t you dare throw shade on my Pokemon, what did she ever do to you?”

 

“She ruined my farm!”

 

“Well, if you weren’t so stupid then you would’ve placed a fence around it!”

 

“There  _is_  a fence around it!”

 

“You should have built a taller fence then!”

 

Wonwoo rolls his eyes, this argument was petty and pointless and Wonwoo was not usually  _this_ petty but something about the pink haired boy in front of him sparked his inner pettiness and Wonwoo was not about to go down without a petty fight. “If you weren’t so dumb, you wouldn’t have taken your eyes off your Skitty and she wouldn’t have destroyed all our hard work!”

 

“Oh, so you’re blaming me now? If you were so tough, why didn’t you just let your Pokemon get my Skitty off of your  _pretty_ berry farm?” The boy bats his eyelashes as he says the last three words and ends his rebuttal with a mocking high pitched voice.

 

Wonwoo knew that the boy was provoking him and his usual self wouldn’t have fallen for the obvious trick but again, Wonwoo was _not_  his usual self and the boy’s existence did something to set off Wonwoo’s competitive strike. So he does the next most mature thing his brain comes up with.

 

He challenges the boy into a Pokemon battle.

 

To which the pink haired boy agrees to without a second thought.

 

The dumbass calls out a Quilava, even after seeing that Wonwoo’s got a very well taken care of Wartortle by his side. The berry enthusiast was starting to think that the boy really couldn’t see properly with his eyes looking like it was closed most of the time. The Quilava, as Wonwoo observes, also bears the same eye features as its trainer.  _Weirder._

 

The battle is decided in less than 5 minutes. What with the pink haired boy being at a great disadvantage from the get go and Wonwoo’s Wartortle in tip top condition and ready for some training.

 

“Don’t you dare think for one second that this is over with, berry boy.” His opponent returns his weakened Quilava into its Pokeball but not before patting its back and telling it did a great job against a water type Pokemon.

 

_Berry boy?_

 

“If someone deserved to be called a berry, it would be you, idiot.” Wonwoo frowns at his pink hair.

 

The boy shoots him a glare flicking his neon pink hair in annoyance but he doesn’t say anything. Instead, he scoops up his Skitty from the ground and turns his back to Wonwoo walking away with a grumble.

 

He doesn’t get the pink haired trainer’s name but it wasn’t as if they were ever going to cross paths again. The boy will probably be too embarrassed to show himself in front of Wonwoo’s presence ever again.

Wonwoo turns to his Pokemons with a spent smile, patting his Wartortle and Chansey on their heads then to his sad, razed berry farm and sighs. Even though he won the Pokemon battle, he didn’t feel gratified at all.

 

—

 

Kwon Soonyoung, as Wonwoo learns, is one stubborn, relentless and persistent person. If Wonwoo was feeling kind enough to describe him in a positive manner, it would be that he was determined, driven and steadfast.

 

But every day, you discover new things about yourself and Wonwoo discovers that he has the ability to hold grudges and that he will never feel kind enough to describe Kwon Soonyoung in a positive manner.

 

Summer was just around the corner, just three weeks after the damage had been made. With Wonwoo’s Pecha berry tree seemingly having forgotten the disastrous fate it had suffered in the paws of a pink feline Pokemon, and now bearing beautiful heart shaped Pecha berries for the world to see once again and with his healthy loam soil sprouting medium sized Oran and Leppa berry trees from its well fed roots, one would think that Wonwoo had forgiven the unnamed trainer he had fought a heated petty argument with but no, Wonwoo had in fact, not forgiven them yet. Forgotten for some time but never forgiven.

 

Wonwoo was manning the shop today since Seulgi was out with her Roselia and Arcanine to deliver some parcels to Professor Birch’s laboratory in Littleroot Town. It was as busy as a flower shop could ever be. Often slow and only having to tend to, at the most, 15 customers in a regular day.

 

At this point, Wonwoo has had 3 customers come into the shop already. The first being a middle aged man who seemed to be running late for something but paid for a stem of white rose, even leaving a few coins in the tip jar while thanking and apologizing to Wonwoo in his haste.

 

The second was one of their regulars: Mingyu, a tall and fair skinned man clad in a Pokemon Ranger’s outfit, looking for a bulk of Lum berries which coincidentally heals all status ailments.

 

“Seulgi’s not around?”

 

“Nope. Unfortunately for you, you’re stuck with me today.” Wonwoo chuckles, well aware of the fact that most male customers who frequent their shop expects his extremely beautiful sister to attend to them and he would’ve thought Mingyu was no different if Wonwoo didn’t know better and if Wonwoo didn’t know that the ranger in training was extremely gay for his partner ranger.

 

“Minghao wouldn’t be too happy if he knew you were looking for my sister,” He teases, just for the sake of alleviating his boredom.

 

“No! Actually- well, you see, I was hoping to ask her something-” Mingyu laughs nervously, scratching his head.

 

Wonwoo gives the younger a look and then it clicks. He’s pretty sure Mingyu catches the mischievous glint in his eyes because the boy was suddenly looking everywhere but at him.

 

“I know a thing or two about flowers too, you know.” Wonwoo snickers coming around the counter to stand beside his Wartortle who was in the middle of watering the patch of budding flowers at the lowest shelf.

Mingyu follows him like a lost Poocheyena, repeatedly opening his mouth as if to say something then closing it just as fast. Wonwoo finds amusement in the distressed state of his friend but cuts him some slack. “Is it his birthday? Is he feeling down? Are you  _finally_  confessing your feelings?” Wonwoo inquires, moving around the layout of the shop in search for the perfect flowers that will suit the occasion.

 

“N- no- none of the above,  _yet_. It’s nothing special, just- uh- he aced the ranger training yesterday and he was super happy about it. So- I- uh-” Mingyu stutters behind him and Wonwoo just knows that his face is as red as his ranger attire. He can’t help but stifle a laugh.

 

Mingyu had probably passed whatever training they had in their academy with flying colors as well but it was all too common of an occurrence to call for a celebration.

 

“Please don’t laugh at me.” Mingyu cries, burying his reddened face in his gloved hands. Chansey and Wartotle comes up on either side of him to give sympathetic pats on his lower back (since it was the highest they could reach).

 

“I’m not, I’m not,”  _He totally was._  “but I know exactly what you need.”

 

The third customer comes in two hours after Mingyu leaves with a red but cheerful face, a pack of Lum berries in his hands and a bouquet of Amaryllis in his arms. Their arrival catches Wonwoo off guard as he was comfortably resting his legs on top of the counter while reading an extensive book about Liechi berries. He startles as the chime on the shop’s door jingle a soft signal, revealing a familiar old woman who Wonwoo had had the honor of meeting a few times in the past, the wife of the Berry Master (author of the book he was reading - and a lot of the other books he reads about berries - before she came in. To simply put, Wonwoo was an avid fan of the old couple).

 

“Don’t fret, young lad, I’m just here for a few stalks of greenery.” She sends him a soft smile after patting his Chansey and Wartotle’s head. Wonwoo is immediately reminded of his mother’s favor and proceeds to the back room only to come out with a small labeled box in his arms.

 

“Would you like me to accompany you back to your home, ma’am?” Wonwoo offers after ringing up the parcel and throwing in a few freshly picked berries for free.

 

The Berry Master’s wife shakes her head and laughs, “You’re too kind but there’s no need for that, son, I’ve got my big old trusty Nidoking waiting for me outside. Thank you very much for asking.” She says and Wonwoo nods but carries the relatively heavy box filled with an assortment of berries and herbs out of the shop before handing them over to the Nidoking who was happily indulging a high-strung Skitty.

 

Hold that thought.

 

_A Skitty?_

 

“Oh my, what an adorable little fellow. Is this Skitty yours, young man?” The Berry Master’s wife asks, without looking at Wonwoo in favor of cooing at the kitten Pokemon.

 

“No ma’am, I’m afraid not.” Wonwoo replies distractedly as he spots a very unusual blob of red peeking out from one of the bushes across the street. “Although, I’m pretty sure I know who that Skitty belongs to.”

 

“Oh, a friend of yours? I see,” The lady nods fondly with a small smile, stroking the Skitty gently and it purrs in satisfaction.

 

Not even close.

 

“Uh, well-“ He cuts himself short, unable to agree or disagree. Wonwoo didn’t want to lie to the kind old woman.

 

The Berry Master’s wife doesn’t seem to notice his uneasiness and even if she does, she pays it no mind.

 

Wonwoo bows once more to the Berry Master’s wife and her Nidoking thanking them for their patronage after she gives him a motherly pat on the shoulder and makes a promise of coming back for a visit and asks him to give her regards to his family.

 

Wonwoo feels a gentle tap on his ankle a few moments later, he looks down and sees the very Skitty that destroyed his humble berry farm three weeks ago. He tries his hardest to ignore the bubbling feeling of affection for the tiny Pokemon because of what his farm had gone through because of it but he had always been a lover of feline type Pokemons and had the weakest spot for Skittys because of their extremely adorable nature and  _this_  particular Skitty was making it so hard for him to keep holding a well-founded grudge.

 

Wonwoo comes down into a squat, looking the Skitty in the eye. Wonwoo doesn’t notice himself squinting to match the shape of the Pokemon’s eyes, unintentionally looking like he was silently plotting an assassination attempt on the inculpable Pokemon.

 

Oblivious as ever, Skitty’s tiny pink tail cutely wags behind it as it lets out a cheerful sound when she spots a Pecha berry atop the bespectacled boy’s palm.

 

How can something so cute be so capable of such evil things? It wasn’t fair.

 

Wonwoo is just about to pat the Skitty’s head when all of a sudden, the bush from across the small street reveals the same pink-haired-now-red-haired boy from three weeks ago from his not so perfect hiding place.

 

“Don’t touch her!” He yells, popping out of the bushes and makes a beeline to where Wonwoo was crouched in front of his Skitty.

 

“I-”

 

“Don’t feed her poisonous berries!” He yells again as he knocks the innocent Pecha berry from Wonwoo’s outstretched hand.

 

He watches the heart shaped berry sadly roll away from him and into the dirt. The Skitty lets out a tiny squeal and goes to follow the dirtied berry, playing with it in between her paws instead.

 

It was at that moment when Wonwoo decides from his better and totally  _not biased_  judgement that the Skitty was indeed pure and faultless and that its previous behavior reflected upon the way it was brought up.

 

So Wonwoo, a clever, clear headed and mature seventeen year old, makes up his mind to channel all his grudge and resentment towards something or some _one_ more deserving _:_  its owner - rather irrationally but Wonwoo won’t admit to that. He internally argues that it’s the trainer’s fault anyways for being irresponsible and not looking after its Pokemon to begin with.

 

“That was not a poisoned berry. It was a Pecha berry and your Skitty would have loved to eat a very delicious, and very poison-free Pecha berry if you didn’t knock it off my hand.” Wonwoo says tacitly - like the calm before a storm.

 

“How do I know you won’t poison my Skitty after what uh,” He pauses, expression schooled to look like he was about to say something completely clever, “ _transpired_ three weeks ago?” He nods looking proud of himself.

 

“How do I know you’re not here to raid my perfectly healed berry farm all over again?” Wonwoo almost rolls his eyes but he stops himself.

 

“Stop answering my questions with another question!”

 

“When will you stop being annoying?”

 

The boy crosses his arms over his chest to give the taller a look, one eyebrow raised higher than the other.

 

Wonwoo’s eyes widen comically, momentarily forgetting about the Skitty and its potential threat to his precious farm. He snaps his head to the direction the Skitty ran towards only to find it and his Chansey preoccupied with happily playing with each other.

 

“How do I know that your Skitty or any of your Pokemons for that matter, no longer pose a highly probable threat on my farm?”

 

“Because we didn’t come here to do that!” The boy snaps, jerking his head away and tipping his nose up in the air to deliver a  _hmph_.

 

This catches the tall lanky boy by surprise and almost lets down his guard. Almost _._  “Then, what exactly are you here for?”

 

The boy looks at him confidently, a small smirk making its way into his features.

 

“I’m here to challenge you into a Pokemon battle.”

 

Said Pokemon battle ends up favoring Wonwoo’s party once again. It was expected but he acknowledges that his opponent had great skill in the art of battling. It was just not as good as Wonwoo’s. He doubts it’ll ever be as good as Wonwoo’s.

 

Sadly, it doesn’t feel as gratifying as it should initially feel like because Wonwoo was never fond of Pokemon battles to start with. He loved training his partners nonetheless and finds joy in their proud grins after they have learned a new move or acquired a new skill. A clear sign of improvement. And he jumps on every opportunity for a chance to train them so long as he isn’t the one initiating the challenge.

 

He pats a happy and satisfied Wartortle and promises him his favorite flavored Pokefood for dinner to which the water type lets out an excited cry.

 

“Just you watch, Jeon Wonwoo, I’m going to beat you one day. I will.” The red head declares, tucking his Pokeball back into its holster resting on his hips. Calling for his Skitty who was now happily jumping around a flustered Chansey.

 

Wonwoo raises his brows at that. Not at the declaration of war but at the basic personal information that he does not recall ever mentioning to the other trainer.

 

“How do you know my name?” Wonwoo asks, expression accidentally looking more affronted than curious. It was a genuine question and Wonwoo absolutely meant no harm in the statement but the boy seemed to have taken it the wrong way what with his face coloring into something akin to what his hair color currently was.

 

“It- it’s written in big bold letters over there- uh- dumbass!” The insult comes a beat too late but Wonwoo pretends not to notice, instead, his gaze follows the direction to where the strawberry head’s finger was pointing.

 

**_JEON FAMILY FLOWER SHOP_ **

_We’ve got it all for you!_

 

He doesn’t see his first name written anywhere on the shop’s sign and turns back around to further question the boy but is surprised when he almost goes crossed eyed in the sudden lack of distance between them.

 

“Remember this, and remember it well. I am Kwon Soonyoung and from this day forward, you, Jeon Wonwoo, shall be my rival. I will beat you next time, just you wait!” He says with every ounce of confidence he could muster, face void of all the redness it had just a few seconds ago and Wonwoo would think he was just seeing things but then he spots the tips of his ears almost blending in with his cherry red hair.

 

“Uh- okay?” He says lacking the spirit the shorter boy had.

 

“Okay!” And then he’s picking up his Skitty again from the ground and walking away from Wonwoo, his Pokemons, and his safe and untouched berry farm.

 

—

 

Wonwoo doesn’t know why he agreed to become Kwon Soonyoung’s rival but he reasons (more to himself than anyone else, really) that it can serve as a great training ground for his Pokemons. He calls it a spur of the moment, sort of.

 

They were a few weeks into Autumn now. The days are becoming shorter and the nights are growing longer. And in the middle of the season's transition from Summer to Fall, Soonyoung has been to the shop to challenge Wonwoo into a Pokemon battle four times since; six if they counted their first two meetings and Wonwoo, in retrospect, has won a grand total of six out of six Pokemon battles against him.

 

Soonyoung has also dyed his hair a new color twice in the process making that four hair colors since they first met and Wonwoo, aside from learning that Soonyoung couldn’t last at least 6 weeks with the same hair color, has had the chance to know quite a few things about the boy that claimed to be his rival.

 

  1. _His family came from the Johto Region but moved to Rustboro City a few years ago._  



 

“Wait- so you studied in the Pokemon Trainer’s School too?” Wonwoo didn’t know why he was asking.

 

Soonyoung looks away, the apples of his cheeks turning into an almost invisible shade of pink but it’s there.

 

“Yes. No further questions will be answered.”

 

 

  1. _They were the same age._



 

“You’re so immature!” Soonyoung whines exasperatedly as he watches Wonwoo deliver the final attack before his Quilava was unable to battle further.

 

“I don’t see what’s so immature about defeating someone clearly weaker than me.”

 

“You’re so aggravating! What are you, twelve?” It was rhetorical but Wonwoo liked seeing the boy lose his cool. Which was often whenever he stopped by to challenge Wonwoo into a Pokemon battle.

 

“No, but I’m glad you asked, I’m eighteen. In fact, I just turned eighteen two months ago.”

 

Wonwoo was expecting to see Soonyoung’s expression turn darker, more grated but what he gets is the exact opposite, he’s suddenly all smiles and sunshine as if he didn’t just get defeated by Wonwoo for the sixth time in a row. The boy was predictably unpredictable.

 

“So, I’m older than you!”

 

It was Wonwoo’s turn to frown. He couldn’t be older than Wonwoo. That’s a lie.

 

“That’s a lie.”

 

“It is not! I was born on June 15th!” 

 

“Ah, a month older than me.”

 

“Yes, therefore you will respect me and bow down to me. On your knees, peasant!”

 

Wonwoo only smirks, Soonyoung senses the incoming treason and visibly flinches when he meets Wonwoo’s smug expression.

 

“Try beating me first and then I’ll reconsider the offer, _your grace_.”

 

 

  1. _Soonyoung has three partners and not all of them have the same eye features as he does._ _(To Wonwoo’s relief because that would have been the_ weirdest.)



 

“Why do you only ever battle with Wartortle?” Soonyoung asks in the midst of their fifth battle against each other. Initiated by none other than Soonyoung, of course.

 

“Because I never need to ask help from anyone else in my team except Wartortle because my opponent always tags out before I need to switch.”

 

_Trainer Wonwoo used Provoke on Trainer Soonyoung!_

 

“Ugh, you’re so full of it!”

 

_It was super effective!_

 

Soonyoung commands his Quilava to deliver a Quick Attack on Wonwoo’s Wartortle but it doesn’t do as much damage as he expected it to. No thanks to Wonwoo using Protect prior to Soonyoung’s command.

 

Soonyoung grumbles and switches out his Quilava before it received any more attacks. He sends out a beautiful Lilligant for the first time since Wonwoo almost cried over his berry farm (he still hasn’t forgotten) and gets into one of his serious battle modes. After battling the now orange haired trainer for a couple of times, Wonwoo had become attuned with some of his quirks and antics in-battle. While Soonyoung usually whined and annoyed the hell out of Wonwoo outside of their battles, he becomes an entirely different person once the time their Pokemons delivering attacks towards each other extended long enough to hit the five minute mark.

 

Wonwoo checks his wrist watch. They were at seven minutes now, just about time for the warm-up to finish and for the both of them to get into the battle for real. He watches as a small glint passes Soonyoung’s irises. A telltale sign of the boy’s brain working and strategizing.

 

Wonwoo waits. But regrets almost instantly because Soonyoung commands his Lilligant to use Magical Leaf on Wartortle. And they were currently at a clear type disadvantage.

 

It’s super effective and Wartortle lets go of a great amount of HP. Wonwoo trusts his partner not to faint. And he doesn’t,  _“Good job, Wartortle.”_  so Wonwoo tries for Water Pulse but it doesn’t do much, just as expected but it did lower their opponent’s speed. And that’s good. Right?

 

The answer is an immediate no because as soon as Wartortle finishes his attack, Soonyoung is already telling his Lilligant to use Sleep Powder and there was no way to counter that.

 

Wonwoo clicks his tongue as realization dawns on him. Soonyoung was not aiming to lower Wartortle’s HP to the point of fainting, he knew it would be too much of an effort. Wartortle was well experienced and has endured a bunch of Quilava’s attacks in the past without much damage. What Soonyoung was after was for Wonwoo to use another Pokemon besides Wartortle.

 

Wonwoo underestimated Soonyoung’s logical skills. And he was now driven into a wall with his Wartortle turning languid by the second, trying to keep its eyes open but it doesn’t work until it ultimately falls into a comfortable slumber.

 

Now if Wonwoo had only known that Soonyoung was in possession of a Lilligant with a sleep inducing attack up on its sleeve, then he would have given a Chesto berry for Wartortle to hold on to but he didn’t know and Wonwoo is staring at Soonyoung’s smug expression with a look of disbelief.

 

“So what’s your next move, berry boy?” Soonyoung taunts, wearing a winning smile which is already annoying the berry enthusiast to his wits’ end.

 

Either Wonwoo withdrew from the battle and accepted defeat or Wonwoo withdrew Wartortle and showed Soonyoung what he wanted to see. Either way, it’s a win-win situation for Soonyoung.

 

Wonwoo kisses his teeth and decides. If Soonyoung introduced his last Pokemon to him then Wonwoo thinks that it’s just proper of him to return the favor.

 

“I didn’t want to do this but you leave me no choice,” he sighs as he returns Wartortle into his Pokeball after a long, long time of not doing so. His Wartortle and Chansey preferred to stay outside of their Pokeballs and Wonwoo never minded, he always loved their company. “Rest well buddy, you did great, you deserve a goodnight’s sleep.”

 

Soonyoung’s victorious smile slips off his face as Wonwoo reveals his third and final party Pokemon, a majestic and elegant fox-like creature, with embers glittering and shining falling around it as it lands graciously on its four legs. Looking straight at Soonyoung’s Lilligant with both intimidation and tenderness despite bearing its canine teeth in a soft growl.

 

“You’ve got to be kidding me,”

 

Wonwoo shrugs and it was his turn to smile at Soonyoung, “You asked for it.”

 

_“A Ninetails?”_

 

To say Soonyoung was  _utterly_  defeated was an understatement. 

 

 

  1. _Seulgi and Soonyoung are friends. No. Acquaintances? No. Relationship undefined_.



 

It shouldn’t have been a surprise for Soonyoung to be familiar with Seulgi. Everyone knows Seulgi, so why wouldn’t Soonyoung? But Wonwoo is surprised anyways when he comes into the shop one autumn afternoon after delivering a truckload of flowers to one of their retailers at Slateport City to find Soonyoung talking animatedly with his older sister.

 

Wonwoo ignores the itchy feeling in his chest and passes it off as exhaustion from his commute to and fro the biggest city in Hoenn.

 

Wonwoo had never seen Soonyoung inside the flower shop, their battles have always been strictly conducted in front of the shop where the pavement was wide enough for their Pokemons to hurl attacks at each other and far enough from Wonwoo’s berry farm. He also never remembers bringing Soonyoung into the shop in fear that he and his Skitty might cause ruckus and put an irreplaceable damage on the interior of their family owned establishment. Soonyoung never seemed bothered by that though, he would always just come by to challenge Wonwoo into a futile Pokemon battle and walk away with a promise to beat him the next time they faced each other. The last time, Wonwoo had slipped a Sitrus berry for his exhausted Quilava to hold on to, a clean, dirt-free and very poison-free Pecha berry for his Skitty and a Rawst berry for the newly introduced Lilligant albeit without the knowledge of their trainer.

 

So to see Soonyoung unexpectedly blending in pretty well with the green house themed shop, looking like the sun itself (he’s blonde now) with all the flowers turning to him for at least an ounce of photosynthesis and having an expression on his face that Wonwoo was never the recipient of, well, Wonwoo was intrigued, so to say. It was the same look of fondness he had when Wonwoo first saw him, when he had called for his Skitty who was leeching at Wonwoo’s Pecha berry tree and the same look when he caught her in his arms and started cooing at her but it was  _levels_  brighter this time as he laughed gesturing exaggeratedly with his arms while speaking to Seulgi. It was more blinding, more genuine and real and pretty.

 

Pretty annoying.

 

Wonwoo clears his throat to make his presence known and it’s his sister who notices first. Her eyes catching his and as if on cue, her smile turns into a wide, wide grin. “Wonwoo!” She exclaims from her seat behind the counter and gestures for him to come over.

 

Soonyoung stops short, hurriedly putting his arms down and shutting himself up. Not even turning to greet Wonwoo.

 

“Oh please, don’t stop on my account.” Wonwoo intends to tease his rival, yes. He acknowledges that they’re rivals now. But is caught off guard when his own voice betrays him and makes the statement sound more salty and bitter than the usual tone reserved specially to tease Soonyoung with.

 

“Hello, Wonwoo.” Soonyoung finally looks at him but all the light in his eyes from half a minute ago has disappeared and he’s back to how he usually looks when he’s speaking with Wonwoo. Equal parts miffed, disgruntled, vexed and annoyed. For the record, Wonwoo thinks he looks just about the same whenever his eyes land on Soonyoung’s person.

 

“Hello, Soonyoung. I see you’ve met my sister.” He taps on the counter and meets Seulgi’s happy face, so pure and unfazed by the obvious tension in the air.

 

“Soonyoung was just telling me all about what happened in the past!” Seulgi clasps her hand together excitedly, “When you guys were in-”

 

“When we were in the middle of a heated discussion whether your berry farm had a fence around it or not!” Soonyoung’s voice booms loud in his ear, effectively cutting his sister off. “Remember that? Can you believe it’s been  _months_  since then? Haha!” Soonyoung laughs loudly, and Wonwoo wasn’t born a mind reader or anything but it was obvious that that was not what Seulgi wanted to say. He looks at his sister for confirmation but she was just standing there without a word, smiling at him like how she usually smiled at her customers, practiced, precise and fake.

 

Wonwoo rolls his eyes and turns to Soonyoung who was visibly sweating. It wasn’t that hot inside the shop though and the Autumn breeze was easily transitioning into a cold breeze. So what was he sweating for?

Wonwoo will never know.

 

“Yeah, it’s been months since your Skitty harassed my farm. I still haven’t forgiven you for that.”

 

Soonyoung scoffs in disbelief, eyeing Wonwoo from head to toe.

 

“Are you saying that you haven’t forgiven me but you’ve already forgiven  _my_  Skitty?”

 

How was Wonwoo supposed to respond to that? He couldn’t just say that he took one good look at Soonyoung’s Skitty rubbing itself on his ankles and immediately forgot about the disaster that his berry farm had suffered.

 

“Oh, Wonwoo is very weak to Skittys.” Seulgi pipes in innocently. “He’s weak to every cat type.”

 

Wonwoo shoots his sister a look.  _You’re not helping._

 

“Aha, now that’s interesting.” Soonyoung puts a finger on this chin contemplatively.

 

Wonwoo shakes his head in defense. “That’s besides the point. My point is, you still haven’t made it up to me or my farm.” He shakes his head again, that was weirdly constructed. “You know what, forget about me. Just my farm. You haven’t apologized to my farm.”

 

He ignores the giggle that comes out of his older sister’s throat following his sentence. Soonyoung raises an eyebrow at him. “You want me to apologize?” Wonwoo nods once, “To your berry farm?”

 

“Precisely.”

 

“That’s stupid.”

 

“You’re stupid.”

 

“You’ve beaten me six times in a row already, isn’t that consolation enough?”

 

“We’re talking about my farm. Not your masochistic tendencies of entering a losing battle-”

 

“Hey!”

 

Seulgi coughs loudly in the background, “Boys, that’s enough. I don’t want any of my flowers feeding on this amount of unresolved tension.”

 

Both teenagers flush and the young florist goes around the counter to grasp one of each of the bickering boys’ wrists and drags them out to the back door of the shop, leading to Wonwoo’s berry farm.

 

“Listen, Soonyoung. I want to apologize for my younger brother’s behavior.” Seulgi starts as as she comes to a stop, not letting go of their wrists. “He’s not usually  _this_  rude.” She eyes Wonwoo who averts his gaze guiltily.

 

“I’m not psychic or what but I can read my own blood very well, and all he wants from you is one simple word.” This time she looks at Soonyoung who has a confused look on his face then she smiles brightly at the two of them.

 

“And until you figure out what that is, you two will be helping me run this shop so your job is to plant these berries on the field and harvest the ripe ones.” She thrusts a small basket of seeds towards her brother’s chest without warning, earning a pained  _oomph_  from him. “You’ll have my Roselia to help make your job easier. Goodluck!” She says as she nods to her flower Pokemon who was following them from behind. Seulgi lets go of their wrists and speedily runs back inside the shop, banging the transparent door closed.

 

“And no Pokemon battles until you’re finished!” She shouts from the inside of the shop but it’s a bit muffled.

 

Wonwoo and Soonyoung share a look and heaves a deep sigh at the same time.

 

 

  1. _Soonyoung can make a valid point when he actually stops to think._



 

Wonwoo tosses a pair of farming gloves at Soonyoung’s direction without a word and the boy clumsily grabs at them with a tiny flail because he almost loses his footing trying to catch the concoction. He shoots a glare at Wonwoo. Wonwoo tries not to laugh.

 

“You’re so irritating.”

 

“Not my fault you have two left feet.” Wonwoo bites back with little conviction. Walking up to one of his fully grown Oran berry trees. His mood suddenly brightens up – like the owner of the perpetrator from a few months ago wasn’t walking unsteadily behind him, trying not to trip on the roots – the tree has borne fruit and his sight is met with a clump of perfectly ripened Oran berries.

 

“Excuse me, if you should know, I’m actually a pretty decent dancer. Arceus, no, I’m a  _great_  dancer.” He hears Soonyoung’s voice become closer as the blonde successfully follows him without falling flat on his face, Seulgi’s Roselia in tow.

 

“That should explain why you always talk with such big hand gestures.” He replies genuinely based from observation but distractedly as he checks his fully grown Oran berries, he plucks one of them and smiles to himself, the color was vibrant, the shape was full and it was perfectly fresh. A grade A berry, like always.

 

He turns to look at Soonyoung who has gone awfully quiet, their eyes meet and Wonwoo blinks slowly noticing that aside from wearing an expression as if he was a Deerling caught in the headlights, there was also a tinge of pink dusting his rival’s cheeks, it was annoyingly cute.

 

“Stop that.” Wonwoo says, shoving the Oran berry in between Soonyoung’s totally un-plump lips.

 

“Shtop vat?” Soonyoung asks as he chews on the Oran berry, nodding at the taste. A mixture of all possible flavors. A berry with a neutral taste.

 

“Doing that.” Being cute. “It’s weird.” Wonwoo turns his back on him and proceeds to pluck a few more ripened Oran berries.

 

“What’s weird?”

 

“You’re weird.”

 

“You’re not making sense!”

 

Wonwoo opens his mouth with a snarky retort ready on the tip of his tongue when he sees his sister’s Roselia giving him an unamused look. “Come on,” he says instead, “Let’s get to work.”

 

“I don’t understand why I have to do this.” Soonyoung huffs, but contradicts his words by putting on the farming gloves anyway. Following his rival through the berry farm while occasionally swatting away the leaves that slap him in the face like they offended him in some way. The farm was on to him. He could feel its vengeance. Maybe he really should apologize to the farm. Soonyoung was starting to believe that it was alive in a different way.

 

“I’m not particularly thrilled to have you stepping foot on my farm either, you know.” Wonwoo adjusts his glasses first before kneeling on the clear patch of soil they stopped at. “Here, make yourself useful and hold this for me.” He plops a few berry seeds on the palm of his hand before thrusting the tiny basket filled with them in Soonyoung’s unprepared arms.

 

“Stop ordering me around-“

 

“My farm, my rules.”

 

Soonyoung lets out a groan and turns to Seulgi’s Roselia with desperation, “Can you believe this guy?” He says to the grass type Pokemon who merely giggles in reply. The blonde trainer looks around noticing the absence of two very blue and very pink Pokemons that were usually present at this time, either following Wonwoo around or minding their own business inside the shop.

 

“Where are Chansey and Wartortle?” 

 

“You’re full of questions aren’t you?” Wonwoo muses without looking at Soonyoung in favor of patting the newly dug soil back to its usual flatness, leaving a tiny part of it embossed for Wonwoo to know that there was a seed planted beneath it.

 

“I am getting nowhere with you. I quit-“

 

“They accompanied my parents to Kanto for a few days.” He hears Wonwoo say in a soft voice, more fond than shy if he stopped to think about it.

 

“Kanto, as in the Kanto Region?”

 

Wonwoo nods with a tiny smile gracing his features. “Squirtle and Chansey were given to me by my parents when I turned thirteen. After one of their escapades in Kanto.” He doesn’t look at Soonyoung but the blonde can definitely hear the nostalgia in his voice. “They were originally from the Kanto Region, so I thought it’d be nice for them to visit their original home. They never tell me but I’m afraid that they sometimes get a bit homesick or something to that effect.” He ends with a noncommittal shrug.

 

“Oh.” Soonyoung breathes, he could say he completely understood the feeling, what with meeting Cyndaquil when he was still living in Johto and leaving home at such a young age to transfer to a completely different place and setting but instead, he opts for: “I think you’re wrong.”

 

The look Wonwoo gives him is incredulous, “Don’t talk as if you know my partners more than I do-” but Soonyoung wasn’t listening to him and only continues to speak while staring off into space.

 

“Why would they get homesick if their home is right here with you?”

—

“Are you sure-“

 

“Yes, I’m sure, damn it. Just- if you don’t do it I’m never going to agree to battle you again.”

 

Soonyoung gasps dramatically, “You wouldn’t!”

 

Wonwoo smirks, “Try me.”

 

“Okay, but why the sudden change of heart?” Soonyoung asks as cautiously as he can manage so as not to get into any more of his rival’s nerves. He was honestly more concerned of his Pokemons’ well-being than his own.

 

“Not sure.”

 

Soonyoung sighs and prays to the Goddess of Pokemons whoever she might be, prays to Arceus, prays to Mew, even prays to Mewtwo that Wonwoo wasn’t planning to incarcerate his beloved Pokemons right in front of him. He closes his eyes before releasing all three of them.

 

He doesn’t feel or hear anything extremely alarming for the first few seconds so he tries to convince himself that his Pokemons are safe, only to open his eyes in panic as he hears his Skitty squeal in the highest possible pitch known to man.

 

“Arceus! I knew I shouldn’t have trusted you-” Soonyoung starts but cuts himself off as his eyes land on his own Pokemons pouncing playfully on Wonwoo. Wait. What.

 

Wonwoo chuckles as he feeds his rival’s Skitty a fresh Pecha berry, its absolute favorite. Soonyoung looks to his left to find that his own Quilava was delightfully munching on one of Wonwoo’s Sitrus berries and on his right was his Lilligant standing beside Seulgi’s Roselia with heart eyes, offering, from what it looked like, a Rawst berry for the fellow grass type Pokemon.

 

“Since when did this happen?” He asks the air in utter betrayal and Wonwoo meets his eyes from where he was patting his Skitty.

 

“Since they proved to me a few weeks ago that they meant absolutely no harm to my farm and it was all just an accident.” He says with a triumphant smile but looks up in thought afterwards, “Oh, it was also because they held up against my Pokemons very well so I gave them berries for a job well done.”

 

“And explain to me why I don’t get the same treatment?”

 

“Because you don’t deserve it.”

 

“Just because I’m not cute like my Pokemons doesn’t mean I don’t deserve to be-”

 

“I didn’t say that.”

 

Soonyoung almost snaps his neck turning to gape at Wonwoo who was looking him dead in the eye, “You didn’t say what?”

 

“I didn’t say you weren’t cute.” He deadpans, face completely void of any emotion. As if he didn’t just confess that he found his rival adorable.

 

The blonde wills his face not to flush, and he almost pats himself on the back but remembers that his ears were the biggest give away. He covers them and attempts to get the upper hand. He was Kwon Soonyoung and Kwon Soonyoung refuses to go down without a fight.

 

“So, you think I’m cute.”

 

Wonwoo blinks boredly, finding more amusement in giving Soonyoung’s Skitty a belly rub instead. “Mm, but I also think you’re rude, has no class, can’t battle properly, annoying, childish, stubborn, and” he suddenly halts the motion of the hand that was rubbing Skitty’s yellow tummy, “doesn’t know how to apologize.”

 

And that was the deciding move. It was like a Combusken suddenly missed its opponent and dove straight under Soonyoung’s chin to give him a Sky Uppercut sending him flying to Mirage Island, body never to be found ever again.

 

“Okay, stop, stop! I get it. I get it.” Soonyoung heaves a heavy and guilty sigh. _“I’m sorry.”_ He says in a whisper, the wind effectively carrying it away with it.

 

“I didn’t get that, can you repeat what you just said?”

 

Soonyoung runs a hand over his face and breathes in before locking eyes with Wonwoo.

 

“I’m sorry for not looking after my Skitty properly. I’m sorry that my Skitty destroyed your farm. I’m sorry for being so petty all the time. I’m sorry for being annoying. I’m sorry for calling you berry boy, I’m sorry for-”

 

He stops his rambling when Wonwoo lets out a laugh, even throwing his head back and clutching his stomach in emphasis. “Stop, _stop_. Soonyoung, that’s enough.” He says as soon as his laughter has successfully died down. He picks Skitty up from where it was lounging on his lap and gently cradles it in his arms as he moves to stand on his full height. Resulting in Soonyoung having to look up at him, the blonde has to blink a couple of times before the reality that Wonwoo was smiling down at him with an extremely genuine smile sunk in.

 

 

“I accept your apology.”  

 

—

“I think I need a Paralyze Heal,” Wonwoo closes the door behind him and looks up to see a gentleman leaning on the shop’s counter with a very uncomfortable smiling Seulgi inching away from him. “Because you’re stunning.” The man raises his eyebrows and gives, from what it should probably look like, a smolder to his sister but she was having none of it. And that pick up line? Wonwoo could do so much better.

 

Wonwoo stifles his laughter with his hand and sees Soonyoung with a ridiculed expression on his face, his Pokemons also seemed like they were judging the man. Wonwoo is just about to go in to save his sister but her Roselia was one step ahead of him, jumping on the counter top to fit herself snugly in between the man and her trainer with a threatening smile. The guy jumps away in shock and looks around the shop as soon as he steadies himself.

 

“Hey man,” Wonwoo starts casually, “if you’re looking for a Paralyze Heal, I’m sure there’re a few stocks available in the nearest PokeMart in Rustboro. Though we have Cheri berries available too if you need an alternative.” He finishes, walking towards the Cheri berries section of the shop.

 

“Uh- no. It’s fine, I was just- yeah- I think I’ll just go to the PokeMart. Th- thank you.” He stutters, face red all over, most probably from embarrassment. He bows to them politely then exits the shop quickly.

 

“I like him, Seul. He’s okay. Little bro approves.” Wonwoo barks out a laugh, “Much better than the guy who went with _‘If you were a Pokemon, I’d choose you’_.”

 

“I hate you so much.” Seulgi replies with annoyance lacing her voice. She crosses her arms in front of her chest and notices Soonyoung standing awkwardly by the door, looking down at his feet. “I take it that you’ve figured out what word my little brother was looking for?” She asks, winking at Soonyoung when he looks up at her. He nods shyly and scoops up his Skitty in his arms. “Yeah.”

 

“I’m glad you’re friends now!” Seulgi claps her hands cheerfully, but Wonwoo guesses it’s because the attention was diverted away from her unfortunate experiences with male customers and half-bad, half-witty pick-up lines.

 

“It wasn’t so hard to say sorry now was it?” Wonwoo teases packing three bags filled with Pecha, Rawst and Sitrus berries and handing it to a boggled Soonyoung. “Take it.”

 

The blonde trainer sputters, looking at the bags of berries in pure awe. “Is this all for free?”

 

“No. You still have to pay for all the damage your Skitty caused my berry farm.” Wonwoo rolls his eyes when he sees Soonyoung’s happy face fall, looks like Wonwoo hit a sore spot that was still in the process of healing. “Of course it’s for free, you dumbass.”

 

“Okay, but before I forget,” Soonyoung finally looks up and Wonwoo gets a nagging feeling in his gut.

 

“I challenge you and your Ninetails to a Pokemon battle.”

 

—

 

Jeon Wonwoo was not a big fan of the Winter for two very personal reasons. One, most berries were not in season during the Winter, therefore Wonwoo is left with only tending to herbs and flowers for three whole months. And two, he has to suffer through tons of rolls of tissue paper because his colds never seem to go away and he always has to have some sort of second or third (sometimes fourth) layer of clothing just to shield his sensitive body from the cold.

 

He’s on closing duty today and is on his way out of the shop after bundling his Chansey and Wartortle with multitudinous amounts of coats and scarves when he feels a pair of eyes burning holes into the back of his head.

 

“Not again.” Wonwoo says as soon as he turns around after closing the door. He sighs deep and exasperated, breath coming out with a puff of smoke from the coolness of January.

 

“Jeon Wonwoo!”

 

“Soonyoung, it’s negative four degrees outsi-”

 

“I ch-challenge you to a P-Pokemon battle! Th- this time f- for sure!” The boy was sporting a dark blue hair color this time, at first glance, it looked like it was pitch black but the flickering street lamp above their heads told Wonwoo otherwise. His teeth were chattering visibly against his will and Wonwoo wants to ask how long he’s been waiting outside the shop but decides against it. Instead, he scratches the back of his neck with another sigh and fishes out the shop's keys from where he just dropped them in his pocket a few seconds ago.

 

“Are you sure you really want your Quilava, a fire type Pokemon, need I remind you. Or your Lilligant, a grass type Pokemon who is weak to extreme coldness, need I remind you _again,_ to be exposed to this kind of weather?” He shakes his head at Soonyoung’s ridiculousness and looks up at the darkening sky, a few specks of snow starting a little drizzle. He crunches his nose in distaste. Wonwoo hated snow. It made his crops wither and it made his berry trees unable to bear fruit. After a few seconds of internally arguing to himself about the pros and cons of the Winter season, he finally drops his gaze back to Soonyoung who he finally gets a proper look at. The slightly older boy was wearing a fluffy red parka and was almost drowning in his white fluffy scarf.

 

It was horrifyingly adorable and Wonwoo couldn’t bear to look at him any longer without wanting to squish his cheeks in between his palms but that would be creepy. Imagine being Soonyoung and having your rival turned friend fantasize about wanting to pinch your cheeks in the most random of times. That would be more than weird, it would be downright freaky.

 

Wonwoo clears his throat and motions for Soonyoung and his own Pokemons to follow him back inside the shop with a tip of his head. Said boy doesn’t follow immediately but as soon as Wonwoo releases his Ninetails from its Pokeball, he splutters in his wake and is instantly taking advantage of the enticing offer of an enclosed space filled with heat and warmth.

 

“Sorry, that was uh- dumb of me?” He says voice laced with embarrassment, not moving an inch away from the flower shop’s welcome mat.

 

Wonwoo chuckles, shrugging off his outer most layer (his fourth layer) and dropping the keys on the counter top before turning to Soonyoung. “How are you able to say sorry so easily now?” He also notices that the other boy had been awkwardly standing at the entrance of the shop since they came in and raises an eyebrow. “By the way, I’m not planning on punching the daylight out of you _anymore_ , if you’re curious.”

 

“I used to have my pride. But it has been crushed and flattened by a certain irritable presence named Jeon Wonwoo so now I’m living my life without dignity.” The navy blue haired trainer says as he cautiously moves in between the shelves of potted flowers and berries towards the counter where Wonwoo was tending to his Pokemons. “Also, I’m not afraid of you. If you’re curious.”

 

“Oh yeah? Then why did you look like you were expecting security lasers, like the ones you see in museums, to suddenly appear on the ground and impale you?”

 

“I did not look like I was expecting security lasers to suddenly appear on the ground and impale me.”

 

“If you say so.” Wonwoo didn’t look convinced.

 

“I was thinking. That as soon as I stepped off the welcome mat, there would be a loose tile that would trigger the ground to suddenly open up and I would end up falling into the abyss. That’s what I was thinking of.”

 

The bewildered look on Wonwoo’s face sends Soonyoung into a laughing fit but is cut off when he lets out a sudden sneeze. “Excuse me.”

 

The berry lover sighs, “Stay here with Chansey.” He says before disappearing into the back room. Soonyoung obeys and takes this opportunity to interact with Wonwoo’s Pokemons who were smiling brightly up at him. “Hi, I never got the chance to apologize to you guys.” He starts, looking at Wartortle, Chansey and Ninetails with uncertainty. “I’m really sorry about, you know, the Skitty incident. I swear, I’ll make it up to you guys, uhm- I’m not sure how to do that but I’ll do my best?” Soonyoung ends his short speech with a shaky laugh and then he’s being embraced by three precious Pokemons, with Ninetails rubbing its head on Soonyoung’s arm comfortingly. That was enough for him to understand that they have forgiven him a long time ago.

 

He swears his eyes started to sweat.

 

Chansey offers him some napkin to wipe his sweat (in his eyes) with which Soonyoung gladly accepts. “You’re too kind to me, I don’t deserve this.” He sniffles, earning an excited growl from Wartortle and a pleased mewl from Ninetails.

 

“If Wonwoo asks, I’m not crying okay.” Soonyoung warns, “I just have a cold.”

 

_—_

It takes a few minutes for Wonwoo to brew tea from scratch. Taking a couple of leaves from his Aspear berry tree and letting it sit for a few moments for the contents to incorporate well with each other before it was ready to be served.

 

When he comes out with a tray of steaming Aspear tea for Soonyoung, he doesn’t expect the boy to be in the middle of making unfunny jokes to an audience of six Pokemons even going as far as making stupid pick-up lines about them.

 

“Imagine, imagine,” Soonyoung howls from his seat on the cold greenhouse tile (Ninetails was probably emitting enough heat for all of them to feel warm anyways), “Imagine Wonwoo trying to snag a date and he goes,  _‘Are you a Magnemite? Because I’m attracted to you.’_ ” He says with a terrible impersonation of Wonwoo’s voice while slapping the ground a couple of times, laughing at his own joke like it was the smartest thing he has ever come up with. Wonwoo’s Chansey, Ninetails and Wartortle are giggling and nudging Soonyoung’s Skitty, Lilligant and Quilava but the three Pokemons were all staring at their trainer with complete disinterest.

 

“Oh come on, you have to admit that was funny!”

 

“That sounds like something _you’ll_ say, not me.” Wonwoo muses, plopping down in front of Soonyoung and offering him a cup of brewed tea. The raven haired trainer startles but politely accepts the warm beverage, still suffering from some residues of his previous joke. “And the great and formidable Jeon Wonwoo thinks he can do better than me? Let’s see what you’ve got then. And please, please don’t give me berry puns.” The dark haired boy casually sips on his tea before letting out a satisfied sigh.

Now that was some authentic berry tea right there.

 

“Hm.” Wonwoo drops his chin on his free hand, studying the features of the boy sitting right in front of him while contemplating on what kind of clever pun he would most likely go for. While thinking, he takes his time to observe the trainer currently awaiting his response. He observes Soonyoung’s ears flushing under close scrutiny, the boy averts his eyes and purses his lips. Silence suddenly falls upon them and only the whir of the heating system and the playful banter of their Pokemons from a few feet away can be heard. Soonyoung’s cheeks were starting to color and Wonwoo catches himself thinking that it was endearing. However, instead of pushing away the thought (like he usually does), he allows his eyes to trace the outline of Soonyoung’s jaw, defined but soft around the edges. His vision focuses on the arch of his brows and the tiny wrinkles on his forehead as he looks around the shop and blatantly avoiding any possible eye contact with Wonwoo. He stares at the slope of his nose and the curve of his cupid’s bow, and the sheen of his lips from being licked out of nervousness, he watches as his Adam’s apple bobs slowly as he gulps. And then all of a sudden, he is looking into Soonyoung’s eyes; his deep brown irises reminds Wonwoo of his favorite season, Autumn. And it only takes one breath and one glance at his dilated pupils for Wonwoo to open his mouth and ruin the moment.

 

“Is there a _Chansey_ you’ll go out with me?”

 

 

_—_

“So you’re telling me, that you asked Soonyoung out on a date.”

 

Wonwoo nods.

 

“Using a Chansey pick-up line.”

 

Wonwoo nods again without looking at his sister, more focused on the task at hand: Picking the best out of the best Oran, Pecha, Sitrus and Rawst berries for Soonyoung and his Pokemons.

 

“And he said yes?”

 

Wonwoo finally meets his older sister’s gaze with a frown.

 

“No, he replied with an even worse pick-up line.”

 

 

_“How did you know that you make my heart Bulba-soar?”_

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

☄️

 

 

_Seulgi throws her head back in laughter, still as gracious as ever. She nods at the young blonde boy exaggeratedly flailing his arms while he tells his story._

 

_“I remember Wonwoo always had a book about berries on him. During recess, he would take out his lunch box and it would be filled with berries! Different berries!” Soonyoung slaps his hand on the counter top emphasizing his point._

 

_“Oh no,” Seulgi pretends to be shocked, gasping and putting a hand on her heart. “don’t tell me you came up to him and stole one of his berries **.**  That’s one of the things you should never do! Even at 12 years old!”_

 

_Soonyoung shakes his head. His cheeks coloring. “No, I didn’t take any of his berries.” His voice dips suddenly turning shy. “That day, I forgot to bring my lunch box to school. Wonwoo, he- uh-“ he looks down at his calm hands, and Seulgi waits propping her chin on the palm of her hand with a fond smile. “I was seated right behind him in class, because we were arranged alphabetically. I’m not sure how it happened, I don’t recall but he saw that I didn’t have any food withme and offered me a few of his Oran berries from his lunch box.”_

 

_“That sounds like something my brother would do but he doesn’t give away his favorite berries to just anybody,” Seulgi nods but Soonyoung doesn’t see since he’s too busy fiddling with his thumbs, she sees the tip of his ears contrasting with the lightness of his hair.“And you’re telling me he doesn’t remember you at all? That’s absurd!”_

 

_Soonyoung suddenly looks up, face completely redand blushing. Hands coming up to flail once more, “No, no! We weren’t close. We didn’t have a lot of classes together, and I always sat behind him so he probably didn’t notice me a lot and- and- he’s always busy burying his nose into the spine of his berry books. I sometimes thought that he wanted to get sucked into the book itself.”_

 

_“Well, I’m sure you’re glad he didn’t end up getting completely getting sucked into his berry books.” Seulgi says in between giggles._

 

_Soonyoung nods happily but his face falls when his memory taps on something sensitive, he sighs dejectedly. “But now he only remembers me for being the dude who owns the Skitty that destroyed his precious berry farm.”_

 

_Seulgi pats his blond head, “That’s easy, just make him remember you for being the dude who kicked his butt in Pokemon battles!”_

 

_Soonyoung sighs again, this time just for the dramatic effect, “That’s easier said than done.”_

 

_There’s a pause and Soonyoung sees Seulgi looking up in thought and then she’s nodding, “That’s true. Come to think of it, I never know how beat him in Pokemon battles either.”_

 

_“I know, right?!”_

 

_And then they’re both laughing again._

 

**Author's Note:**

> The Jeon Family Flower Shop is actually the “Pretty Petal Flower Shop” in Pokemon Emerald’s Route 104 where you can receive the Wailmer Pail from, it’s very close to Rustboro City as mentioned.
> 
> The entire plot (if there's even one) of this story revolved around two very cute prompts I found online (thank u prompt gods):  
> 1\. I have a tiny berry farm and your Pokemon raids it. You better be good at farming cause you’re not leaving until this farm is fixed and;  
> 2\. You challenge me constantly even though I have a major type advantage against you. What is your deal? Do you need to talk?
> 
> ☄️
> 
>   
> Hollers at Iza and Delyn from afar. I did it you guys, I finished it before the deadline. Cries. Thank you for pestering me to finish it already HAHA I hope you enjoyed it, my Camilles!
> 
> And to ate Cat for allowing me to adapt the WonSeul sibs trope which I love so much huhu and to ate Nini for giving me tips and links wink wink to help me add more content to this one aaaaah thank you ily both!


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